From a continental perspective, 56.8% of Irish exports by value are delivered to other European countries and this figure is expected to grow further.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of the British transit route when one considers that two-thirds of Irish exporters go through the UK. But will the UK land bridge remain the quickest and most efficient way to EU mainland?

Currently road transport through the UK takes 12 hours on average whereas the Carriage Ro-Ro Ferry Services may take up to three times as long to get to the same destination.

In terms of delays — taking into consideration the worst case scenario where border controls exist — we are talking about four different check points between Ireland and the EU mainland. The first upon exiting Ireland, the next two while entering and exiting the UK and the last on entrance to the EU.

Delays will be inevitable unless both the company exporting goods and the hauliers are AEO authorised and/or can prove they have a secure supply chain.

Customs resources at each point will be restricted which will also mean added delays.

Alongside this, hauliers may now need to be able to produce Customs Documentation such as Transit Documents, access the NCTS EU Computer system for managing transit and provide Customs Guarantees for the Transit operation.

Finally, customers will start requesting information regarding their hauliers’ Brexit plans as this will be a critical component of a company’s AEO application.

This raises the following questions:

How much time will Brexit add to the usual transit time?

What is the solution to minimise it?

Do we need to look for AEO?

These are the questions Irish hauliers and freight forwarders have to plan for and they need to plan sooner rather than later to be able to keep their usual business going, meet customer delivery deadlines and maintain profits.

For further information on Brexit and all customs queries please contact BDO.

For more information about our partnership with BDO Ireland click here.